Storyline

The Enterprise searches the reportedly primitive and warlike planet, Ekos, for the missing Federation cultural observer, Professor John Gill (David Brian). When Kirk (William Shatner) and Spock (Leonard Nimoy) beam down, they find the Ekosians have turned into a Nazi society, with Gill as their Fuhrer, and are at war with the peaceful people of neighboring planet, Zeon. They steal uniforms to enter the headquarters; but when Spock is forced to remove his helmet, his ears betray them and they are led straight to the torture chamber. After a flogging as Zeon spies, they manage to escape with a Zeon prisoner (Richard Evans), who takes them to the Zeon resistance. The resistance tests them, and plots with an Ekosian defector (Valora Noland) just to reach Gill, posing as a Nazi propaganda film crew. Once they enter inside, they discover things are not quite as they appear.Written by
KGF Vissers

Did You Know?

Trivia

Goofs

The first time Kirk and Spock infiltrate the Nazis, they are speaking English and relying on the Universal Translator to turn their speech into Ekosian, a language with presumably no correlation to English. Their mouth movements should appear to the locals as being badly out of sync with the words being heard, like a badly dubbed foreign movie, which would lead to their discovery long before it actually happens. This is normal for The Original Series, and the fact that all aliens encountered by the crew seem to speak English is never really dealt with. The Universal Translator is only mentioned in a few episodes (but not this one). However, in Star Trek: MetamorphosisStar Trek: Bread and Circuses, Kirk does point out with a note of curiosity that the inhabitants of the planets of those weeks speak English. See more »

Quotes

[Gill has died in Kirk's arms]
Isak:
For so long, I've prayed for this. Now I'm sorry.
Capt. Kirk:
[regarding Gill]
So was he.
Isak:
You've given us all a new chance.
Eneg:
Thank you, but go now. We must do the rest.
See more »

Alternate Versions

Special Enhanced version Digitally Remastered with new exterior shots and remade opening theme song See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

User Reviews

Following on the heels of "A Private Little War," this is another serious stab at presenting the dire consequences of interfering with the natural progression of a culture. This time, the contamination is Nazism, a plague of thought / speech spread on a planet called Ekos. The Ekosians, a warlike primitive people, are subverted to channel their aggression against their peaceful neighboring planet, Zeon. The Zeons were more advanced up until a few years ago; but now, Ekos has the same technology and plans are made to exterminate the Zeons. It all started innocently enough. It's a bit strange. The Federation has had this non-interference directive, the Prime Directive, in place for at least a century or more. I understand a sometime aggressive hotshot like Kirk rationalizing around this directive at times of intense situational imperative, but now an elderly Federation historian, a supposed expert on what tampering with history means, decides to re-arrange a culture's status quo on what appears to be a whim - a chance to play God, as McCoy puts it.

The main problem with episodes such as this has to do with constraints related to budget, make-up and so forth. The show is unable to capture the atmosphere of an actual alien planet or culture. Rather, it appears as if Kirk and Spock have transported themselves into Earth's past yet again, to Europe during World War II when it was dominated by Nazi Germany. There is no make-up involved for the supposed two alien races here; they are, for all practical purposes, other humans. The Ekosians are the Nazis here, where-as the Zeons are stand-ins for the persecuted Jews. The episode does succeed in capturing some of that brutality associated with the Nazi regime and there's plenty of suspense as Kirk & Spock attempt to infiltrate the Nazi HQ to see their Federation rep, now Fuhrer. If anything, this is the serious version of "A Piece of the Action" - the scary contemplation of how an entire society can be deluded into following a certain doctrine. But, did we need a sf version of actual history to get the point across? The most intriguing aspect is Melakon, the deputy Fuhrer who is, in fact, the actual incarnation of Hitler or Himmler - take your pick.

16 of 22 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
| Report this